Tuesday, February 7, 2017

A new patch is live on the Overwatch PTR

New Feature: Server Browser (Blizz put up a video about this one)
Starting today, every player can create their own, unique Overwatch experience and share it with their friends, their teammates, or the entire world. Introducing the Server Browser.

An extension of Overwatch's Custom Game mode, the Server Browser allows you to adjust the settings on various maps, modes, and heroes, creating your own tailor-made server. If, for example, you want to increase Pharah’s missile speed or remove the cooldown from McCree's Combat Roll, the power is yours. Once you're happy with your settings and you're ready to launch your game, you'll need to set up the permissions. You can limit the number of people who can join your game by toggling the "Friends Only" or "Invite Only" options, but if you want to put your strange creation to the real test, set your server to "Public" and click the launch button.

The Server Browser is currently being tested, so we'll be making changes throughout the PTR. Thank you for helping us test the feature, and we're excited to see what you make of it.

New Mode: Capture the Flag
Capture the Rooster has been, without a doubt, Overwatch’s most popular brawl. We don’t want that excitement to end, so we’re bringing Capture the Flag to the Arcade as an ongoing game mode. Starting today, we’re adding Capture-the-Flag versions of Nepal, Lijiang Tower, Ilios, and Oasis, which gives you 12 maps to try when creating a Custom Game.

HERO UPDATES

Ana
New Hero Option: Nano Boost Sensitivity

Allows players to adjust Nano Boost’s targeting sensitivity

Bastion
Configuration: Sentry

Deploy time decreased from 1.5 seconds to 1.0 second

Bullet spread increased by 50 percent

Bullet spread is always at maximum (it no longer increases as the weapon is fired)

Magazine size increased from 200 to 300

Headshot damage multiplier has been removed

No longer deals critical damage

Configuration: Recon

Bullet spread decreased by 25 percent

Magazine size increased from 20 to 25

Self-Repair

Can now be used while moving

Now bound to secondary fire (formerly Ability 2)

No longer interrupted by taking damage

A new resource meter has been added that deplete while Self-Repair is active and recharges when not in use

Configuration: Tank

No longer grants bonus armor

Bastion has a new passive: Ironclad

Bastion takes 35% less damage while in Sentry or Tank configuration.

Developer Comments: The goal of these changes is to move some of Bastion's power from Configuration: Sentry to Recon, while keeping its sentry mode a strong option, especially versus tanks and barriers. Overall, Bastion should feel stronger and more flexible with these changes.

D.Va
Defense Matrix

Projectiles (like Roadhog’s Chain Hook or Tracer’s Pulse Bomb) no longer need to travel a minimum distance before they can be blocked

Developer Comments: Previously, there was a minimum distance a projectile had to travel before it could be destroyed by Defense Matrix. This made it nearly worthless in situations where an enemy was right next to your teammate, such as when Roadhog hooks your ally. This change removes that restriction so Defense Matrix should now reliably destroy projectiles regardless of how far they have traveled.

Mei
Cryo-Freeze

Mei can now be targeted by allies while in Cryo-Freeze

Mercy
Resurrect

While performing a resurrection, Mercy now becomes temporarily invulnerable along with the allies being revived

Developer Comments: Mercy’s Resurrect has always been very powerful, but it often forces her to sacrifice herself to use it well. There have been changes in the past that attempted to help her in this area, but haven’t done enough to solve it. This change means that once she uses the ability, she will always survive long enough to be with her team again.

Developer Comments: Like Symmetra, the damage from Torbjörn’s turrets was also reduced by 30 percent in July. After monitoring his effectiveness, we’ve decided to give his turret a small boost, restoring about 15 percent of the damage. By contrast, the damage from Torbjörn’s turret on PC is still 14.

Widowmaker
New Hero Option: Grappling Hook Sensitivity

Allows players to adjust Grappling Hook’s targeting sensitivity

Zarya
New Hero Option: Projected Barrier Sensitivity

Allows players to adjust Projected Barrier’s targeting sensitivity

Zenyatta
New Hero Option: Harmony Orb Sensitivity

Allows players to adjust Harmony Orb’s targeting sensitivity

New Hero Option: Discord Orb Sensitivity

Allows players to adjust Discord Orb’s targeting sensitivity

MAP BALANCE CHANGES

Eichenwalde
A second gate no longer closes after the payload passes through the castle doors. Instead, rubble from the damaged doorway partially blocks the entrance.

Developer Comments: Once the offensive team gets through the castle entrance, the map becomes very heavily stacked in the defense’s favor. This change will give the offense more entrance options, which should improve the map’s overall balance.

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed an issue preventing key bindings on the communication wheel from displaying properly

Fixed a bug causing some key bindings to revert to default after the first round of a Control map

Fixed a bug that allowed commendation cards to be recalculated and transferred to a new player after the previous recipient left at the end of a round

Fixed a bug that caused the “experience gained” audio effects to continue playing, even after the players left the game lobby

CHANCE...

...is actually named David.

This is where I write about video games. Beyond the simple pleasure of it, I hope to use this place as a bit of a mental gym to re-develop my writing style - something I seem to have misplaced around the turn of the century.

It will also serve as a personal blog, but for the most part if you enjoy discussion of gaming news, independent reviews and pointless musings, you have come to precisely the right place.

It's my custom to do at least one post per day - but whether it ends up being ten posts of breaking news and a review, or one post complaining about how I have a tummy ache is not set in stone.